Mackinaw Mill Creek Campground

This is a very large campground near in Mackinaw city. (Over 600 sites, 200 full-hook-up). The campground encompasses 200 acres of woods and one mile of shoreline viewing the Mackinac Bridge. Most sites are shaded, spacious and all have fire rings. Sites nearest to the water have less shade, but an unobstructed view of the water. The campground offers free WIFI but no cable. There are a number of very nice cabins available for rent, both rustic and deluxe. The camp store had a good deal of RV accessories and children’s play items. There is also a decent selection of food-serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Firewood is available for purchase and is stored in a covered shed. The store also sells beer including some beers only sold in Michigan.

Appearance:

We thought that the campground was nice overall. One observation that we made, however, was that the grounds keeping was somewhat neglected. We saw several areas with overgrown weeds and areas that were kept mowed, but not trimmed (around trees, for example). It just made the campground look less manicured than others we have visited. There was also a large area with mounded gravel and sand used for site maintenance, but left us feeling like we were close to a construction site. The sheer size of this campground obviously needs to be taken into account, keeping up the grounds in such a large space is likely a never-ending task. The sites by the water offer breathtaking views of the lake and Mackinaw Island Bridge, worth setting your alarm to catch a sunrise and walking down by the water at sunset.

Rating: (1 to 5 lanterns, with 5 being the highest)

Activities:

There is a nice sized, clean heated pool (open early June-Labor Day), and a basketball court. There was no hot tub. Within a five-minute drive you can visit downtown Mackinaw city with lots of fun shops and restaurants. We ate at Nonna Lisa’s Italian Ristorante and really enjoyed their wood-fired pizzas and unique decor. There is a very large outdoor store called Mackinaw Outfitters that is a must for all hiking and outdoor enthusiasts. The campground offers a free shuttle to the ferry docks. We purchased discount tickets from the campground that were $22 per person (the price is $25 at the dock) We recommend taking the 11:00 ferry to the island – it takes you directly under the bridge. The campground also offers discount tickets to the nearby golf course. There are trails within the campground and also a three-mile bike or walking trail across from the campground.

Rating:

Pet/Family Friendly:

The campground is pet-friendly and we noticed several families with dogs. You are able to walk the pets throughout the park provided they were on a leash. Pets are not allowed on the beach areas. We found it disappointing that a campground so large did not have a fenced-in dog park. Many smaller campgrounds we have visited have had this feature, and we saw several spaces at Mill Creek that certainly could be dedicated to this purpose.

There are several ways that children can enjoy spending time here. There are two playgrounds (one of them was very large and was busy with children having fun) , a heated pool, basketball court and very large game room. Many of the interior roads are paved, so children can ride bikes throughout the campground.

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Bathrooms/Showers:

The bathrooms were clean and modern. There are ample facilities for the campground (three areas of bathrooms and shower houses and some more primitive bath houses throughout). The bath house directly across from the pool had both restrooms and showers, while the shower house closest to us only had showers. This meant one trip to the bathroom first, then the trip to the shower house. The shower house had four sinks and for shower “stalls”. These stalls were very interesting to say the least. Rather than walls they were constructed with plumbing pipes with shower curtains hanging from them. So while you had a changing area and shower area, none of them actually had any walls. Not exactly the most private feeling shower I have ever been in! But it was clean and had hot water.

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Overall:

We enjoyed our stay at Mill Creek. Word of caution: when we stayed in early June there was a HUGE problem with Midges. This was not a problem with the park, just the area in general. We have never seen anything quite like it! Thankfully they do not bite.